Collective noun

Collective nouns are the names of collections of things, or, more usually, people. A committee contains several people, but is thought of as a unit. The Cabinet is made up of some 20 Ministers, but is a single body. Ideally you should use a singular verb with a collective noun –- "the Government thinks that" -- but many writers do not follow this rule. They have some justification when they are talking about the behaviour of individuals – e.g. "The Committee have expressed many opinions (rather than has).